Duplicable City Center Lighting

This page is about the development of the lighting plan for the Duplicable City Center. It is purposed to share the important developments and considerations made in relationship to the interaction of light, energy conservation, and aesthetics in this structure. This page includes the following sections:

LEED PLATINUM LIGHTING PLAN DETAILS

A LEED Platinum lighting plan looks at the maximum allowable light levels as a baseline and then performs an evaluation of the system you intend to build as a comparison to this maximum. New structures that incorporate a 48% (or more) increase in efficiency over the baseline are eligible for 19 (the maximum number) of LEED points for this category.

It is also worth noting that the LEED energy usage rating is for the entire building. This means that exceeding efficiency goals in one area can then provide additional energy availability in another area. Our goal, however, is to keep our numbers as low as possible because it reduces our total up-front energy infrastructure needs and costs.

With this in mind, to assess the desired 48% increase in efficiency we set a goal of 50% increase and used the following conservative choices from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) lighting power density benchmarks:

We then made the assumption that we will exclusively utilize LED lights (the latest technology), which have higher upfront costs but consume much less electricity than traditional or even compact fluorescent bulbs. Here is how LEDs compare to traditional lightbulbs to produce the same amount of light:

LED Wattage

Traditional Wattage

4 W

25 W

8 W

40 W

10 W

60 W

20 W

100 W

30 W

150 W

Using only these lights, combined with average light production goals for each room, allowed us to achieve our LEED Platinum goals:

LIVING DOME

The living dome seems to be the most straightforward. We based our calculations on the assumption that the lighting will be the same on both floors and we used the second floor’s smaller area (≈2700 sq ft) as the assumed budget for each floor. At 50% of the suggested allowance for a “hotel” of 1 W/sqft, this provides us with around 1350 W per floor, which far exceeds the estimated usage (692W) that covers the following:

DINING DOME

Of the three domes, the limit provided for the dining dome is the lowest. With a suggested lighting density of .45 W/sq foot (0.89 W/sq foot * 50%), the ground floor has a maximum of ≈1883W (0.45W/sq foot x 4185 sq feet) and the second floor a limit of ≈871 W (0.45W/sq foot x 1935 sq feet). Our plan for lighting usage for the dining dome areas are:

Open Dining Area (180W)

Lights Aimed at Ceiling (6 x 30W = 180W)

1st Floor (160W)

Ceiling Lights – Integrated or Track (40 x 4W = 160W)

2nd Floor (100W)

Floor Lamps (5 x 20W = 100W)

CUPOLA

The cupola is a single enclosed space surrounded by windows. Basic track lighting near the perimeter with ceiling lights closer to the center should adequately illuminate this 785 sq foot space:

Track Lighting (288 W)

6 lights per side x 8W per light = 288W

Ceiling Lights (60 W)

6 ceiling lights closer to the center at 10W per light = 60W

The above plan works out to be 0.44W/sq foot. This seems reasonable and is well under the goal of .66 W/sq foot (1.23 W/sq foot * 50%). It is also worth noting that this will almost always only be used at night since there are 360 degree windows and thus natural lighting will often be more than sufficient.

CENTRAL MEZZANINE

For this area, we envision a set of 3 lights attached to each of the 6 pillars at the level of the 3rd floor. Thus, the estimated power usage is 6 pillars * 3 lights/pillar * 20W per light = 360W. If this will illuminate the entire 2453 sq foot area, then we’d have an effective lighting density of ≈0.15 W/sq foot (360W / 2453 sq feet), which is significantly less than the .33 W/sq foot goal (.66 W/sq foot * 50%).

LIGHTING AND WALL AND CEILING COLOR OVERVIEW

Bringing in natural light is one of the most effective ways to make a building feel pleasant and comfortable inside, and is also a hallmark of modern architecture. Most of the Duplicable City Center should have a good amount of natural light due to the big windows placed high up in the domes, but it’s important to complement that with interior light sources. Designing the interior lights to feel more “natural” accomplishes several things—it enhances the open feeling of the building rather than distracting, it simulates daylight on dark days or in the winter, and it helps keep the interior feeling more physically comfortable in extreme weather (i.e. warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer).

For the proper aesthetic feeling, we will use a combination of indistinct ambient light and detailed spots. This is important because flat even lighting is boring and generally less desirable, like this:

In contrast, what we want to create is more along these lines:

This second example doesn’t have a ton of natural light but it still feels open and airy. White (or very close to it) walls and ceiling accentuate this even more by reflecting light, an experience we will specifically enhance in our structure by aiming larger lights up to reflect off these white ceiling and walls to maximize ambient light to mix with the lights from the overhead windows. For the largest spots, we will use heavy-duty track lights that can be positioned and adjusted while in place; mounting them on the corner walls of the domes aiming up and out, like this:

By mounting them there, they can be aimed so they will spread light over the roof of the dome very nicely without creating glare in anyone’s eyes.

In areas with a more traditional ceiling (i.e. in bedrooms, bathrooms, and underneath balconies in the domes), a combination of reflective fixtures and in-ceiling can-lights or track lights will be used.

A similar feeling of ambient light can be created with fixtures similar to the picture on the left:

Can-lights create a relatively even amount of light in a room, but still have “hot” spots underneath them that make for a far more interesting visual experience like this:

Here’s the initial plan to place fluorescent fixtures vs. the can lights in the ceiling.

Floor 1:

Floor 2:

Note that floor 2 has spots in some of the open areas on the mezzanine in the dining and social domes. Most of the ambient light will come from the high-powered spots across the dome ceiling, but some task lighting will also be supplied on the tables to minimize the need for the larger and higher energy use lights when this room is only occupied by a few people requiring/desiring less light. By creating the space with the majority of light done with spot lighting and table-top lights, and reserving the fluorescent lights for places where they can reflect off of surfaces and create diffuse ambient light, we maximize the feeling of openness and airiness.

Here’s what the strips around the outer wall would look like, in the bedrooms and the library. This will also be used on the mezzanine floors in the dining and social domes:

Using something somewhat more attractive than your basic cheap fluorescent fixtures like this:

In areas where there’s a specific focus, such as the library with bookshelves, the bar counters in the kitchen, or the gallery walls, track lights are a more useful option. They will still be spots, but aimable to light details of whatever area they’re used in.

Floor plan indicating locations of track lights coming…

LIGHT COLOR CONSIDERATIONS

Light color is also an important consideration. As color temperature goes higher on the Kelvin scale it gets whiter and then bluer, and this tends to give a colder outdoor impression. A lower color temperature is yellower and softer, and tends to feel cozy and warm. Here’s an example of the comparison:

Cooler colors will be used in the big wide-open spaces to enhance the airy feeling. Warmer colors will be used in more intimate places — next to big chairs in the library, in the living quarters, at the bar counter, etc.

LIGHTING TYPE CONSIDERATIONS

Click to Enlarge

DINING DOME LIGHTING EVOLUTION

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RESOURCES

SUMMARY

One Community’s approach to Highest Good energy is a combination of conservation, functionality, and monitoring, fine tuning, and data sharing. We know people will adopt the solutions we present if we can demonstrate lighting and energy approaches that save people money, still provide functional and aesthetically beautiful environments, and teach people how to replicate them. The Duplicable City Center will do all these things and more while helping us achieve LEED Platinum certification. This page will be where we continue to share all we learn, create, and evolve throughout the process.

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